Children's Happy Charity Does Exactly What it Says on the Tin!

This Gift of Happiness Foundation Project is dedicated to the memory of our dear friend and volunteer Geoffroy Van Innis who passed away suddenly in March 2015.

The June 2015 Gift of Happiness project was to Sangkhlaburi district, in Kanchanaburi province, north west of Bangkok, where we had not been since March 2014. Five volunteers on this project are expatriates resident in Bangkok. Eddie Haworth and Luke Horton British, Antoine Van Innis and Ben Calberg are Belgian, and Gary White is Australian. There is also one paid driver/tranlator K' Amarin Nissasoka

Antoine Van Innis is the brother of Jeffroy Van Innis, and Ben Calberg a close friend of Jeffroy, who recently passed away in a tragic accident in his home country of Belgium. Jeffroy had been a regular contributor to, helper of and participant in Gift of Happiness projects and this particular project trip was dedicated to his memory.

Mr. Luke Horton is a recent recruit to the GoH crew and has dedicated a great deal of effort in past weeks to gathering donations of clothing and toys from his family, his children’s school friends, and families in his community. The focus of this trip was to distribute those goods to needy children in the Sangkhlaburi area, as well as other goods donated by Charter International School, Antoine Van Innis, Len Penn Music Academy and Park Plaza Sukhumvit Hotel in Bangkok – plus, of course, great big dollops of happiness via Clown Eckie fun shows at six schools and institutions in and around Sangkhlaburi.

Geoffroy Van Innis (Pictured in Sangkhlaburi 2014)

There were six people in all participating in the aid and show giving tour:

Most of the goods given on this project were donated by the children of Charter International School, Len Penn Music Academy, Bangkok, Antoine Van Innis and Mr. Luke Horton, Park Plaza Sukhumvit Hotel, plus hundreds of items donated by many individuals and families in Bangkok and other cities worldwide. The tour itself and prior collections of goods was financed by volunteer, personal contributions and the Foundation Director's resources.

Bed-time for some very tired but happy kids

Child Trafficking?It's OK! - "They are being taken back to their safe home with new toys and clothes after a "Big Go-Happy Show".

Day 1: 15th JuneAll the participants bar Luke, who had an early engagement and was to meet us on the road, met at the Gift of Happiness shop to load up the goods and prepare for the trip. Luke sent his car and driver whilst he himself was otherwise engaged, and we packed his car, and then the GoH Happy Van and Antoine’s car. The three vehicles, packed to the brim, all set off by 10/10.30 for the trek up the track to Sangkhlaburi.

Gift of Happiness Foundation Directors truck being put to good use again!

After a long drive we were all there and checked into our accommodation at P Guest House by 6.30, where we were met by representatives from our local liaison, One Sky Foundation. Dinner was at a small and very local restaurant that serves a famous version of massaman curry, before we all turned in for the first day of happiness giving on Tuesday.

Day 2: 16th JuneAn early start (in fact, they were all early starts!) saw us gathered at the local market by 8am for coffee and tasty local snacks. Then it was off to One Sky Foundation’s office nearby to pick up some more goods and a generator, as our first call had no electricity and some power is needed for the Clown Eckie show.

I should state at the outset how well and ably we were assisted by Khun Andrew, Khun Un and Khun Off of the One Sky Foundation, who liaised with local schools and institutions to set the programme, chaperoned and guided us to each location, smoothed initial introductions where necessary, and generally facilitated the efficient conduct of all proceedings. They also arranged a local photographer, Khun Wanna, who accompanied us on Tuesday and Thursday to all sites (and who took some great pictures, was extremely accommodating to all requests for help, and spoke excellent English).

Once everyone was breakfasted and all was picked up and packed up, off we set for our first engagement, at Parai Noog Satellite School (a satellite of the larger Ban Huay Gop School a few kilometres away).

After turning off just before the River Kwai Christian Hospital we drove down an increasingly narrow road that soon turned to dirt and entered a quite remote area at the end of which was a gate proclaiming we had arrived at “Happy Home”. This was where Parai Noog was located, and what better site for the first of Clown Eckie’s happy shows. The school has 58 students and most of them were present for the show, which was greeted with the usual squeals of delight and laughter.

After leaving bags of toys, clothes and educational goods here, we had a quick noodle lunch at a local establishment back on the “main” road near the hospital, then returned to the side road for our afternoon visit to Ban Huay Gop School (Frog Creek). Another show here for the 190 plus children in attendance, plus half a dozen bags of clothing and toys, and some candy and biscuits courtesy of (I think) Antoine and Ben.

Then it was back to the guesthouse for a short rest before dinner at the Samprasob Hotel, in celebration of my 63rd birthday, which was that day. Andy from One Sky joined us and the guys got me a cake complete with birthday wishes and a candle – many thanks guys!

Day 3: 17th JuneAfter our usual breakfast stop at the town market we set off to a very large school in the Mon village section of Sangkhlaburi town, Wat Wangwiwekaram, near the temple of the same name. This school has over 1,000 students, all Ethnic Mon. The show could not be given to all, as there was nowhere big enough to hold everyone, but we did manage to entertain all the younger ones.

So several hundred enjoyed an hour of laughs and happiness, and again we left several bags of children’s clothes and toys to be distributed by the teachers after we left. Antoine and Ben again sponsored snacks for the kids and then it was off for a quick lunch back in the main part of town.The afternoon saw us head out to Sam Chedi Sam Ong district (Three Pagodas Pass) and Ban Songkhalia School, a satellite of Sam Chedi Sam Ong School, located at the base of one of the many huge chunks of shrub covered rocks that dot the area and represent the last gasp of mountains that trail right down from Tibet and the Himalayas. Another show, more bags of toys and clothes, as well as ice creams courtesy of Antoine and Ben, who then unfortunately had to head back to Bangkok due to unavoidable work commitments.

The rest of us – Eddie, Amarin, Luke and I – headed back to the guesthouse for the evening. Luke helped One Sky’s Manager, Andy sort goods for the next day and the rest of us returned to Raan Aharn Massaman for more of their delicious fare.

He will become a fully qualified teacher next year and is a credit and inspiration to his community, coming back to help teach the local kids of his village. His English was excellent and he basically chaperoned our visit to this school of over 300 students. After the show we left more bags of clothes and toys and Luke hosted snacks from the school cooperative store for the kids present. It is planned to return to this lovely, well-managed school on a future GoH visit to Sangkhlaburi.

Musical notes/patterns shaved into his hair at an ethnic Mon squatter village

Day 4: 18th JuneOur last day in Sangkhlaburi started as usual with breakfast at the market, and then we headed back along the road to Thong Pha Phum and Kanchanaburi for a few dozen clicks before turning left into the hills and a very remote school called Ban Gong Mong Tha, which serves a small village community nestled in a valley amongst the hills. More dirt road, but very picturesque getting there.At the school we were greeted by Khun Joon, a trainee teacher from the village. He had gone to school there and then completed his higher education at the Kanchanaburi Rajabhat Institute, before returning to Gong Mong Tha as a trainee teacher.

After lunch back in town we headed out along the River Kwai Christian Hospital Road again for two impromptu stops. The first was an orphanage way out on the road towards the refugee camps along the border, Suan Lek Lek Mor Lah Kha, with 37 children aged 2-5 years. There was no time for a show (perhaps on the next visit) but we left some bags of clothes and toys, including a beautifully crafted and fully-equipped doll’s house given by Luke’s daughter.

Next stop was back near the hospital, an ethnic Mon squatter village behind a temple – the village aptly being called Ban Mon Lang Wat (the Mon village behind the temple!) – where we left a few bags of clothes and plan to do a show at some future time. Then it was back to One Sky Foundation offices for the final show and donations of clothing and toys, to various van loads of children and their families brought in from remote, small institutions by One Sky. Luke again hosted ice creams for all and then we and the One Sky staff joined for a farewell dinner (once the One Sky people had provided dinner for all the children and families).

Day 5: 19th JuneThe next day we set out early and returned to Bangkok, arriving safe and sound around mid-afternoon and thankfully beating the worst of the usual Friday evening peak hour traffic!

This completed yet another very rewarding and enjoyable GoH project. In all nearly 2,000 needy children benefitted in some way from the goods distributed and were given a small taste of a kind of happiness they had never known before via the Clown Eckie fun shows.

Another great job done by the Gift of Happiness Foundation, Eddie Haworth (AKA , Clown Eckie) the volunteers who helped on the trip, and all those who donated goods, time and effort towards its successful conclusion.Report written on 23 June, 2015 by: Mr. Gary White, Retired Banker; Past President and Honorary Member, AustCham.

All the people we visited here are living in very poor or desperately poor situations.

We are determined to keep doing this important work as often as possible.

We can only keep doing this with the help of small donations from you!

Note from the Director:We hardly ever get anyone clicking this donation gateway, so please just send us a small amount, then we can be sure the picture link actually works? Thanks, Eddie Haworth.

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Gift of Happiness Foundation is a Registered Charityin the Kingdom of Thailand.Registration number: Kor Tor 1914.Tax I.D: 3-0337-6259-4.--A non profit organisation under the Royal patronage of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand.--Dedicated to giving happiness and essential goods to poor children and families in Bangkok and throughout Thailand.

Gift of Happiness Foundation chooses not to be listed on other websites, likeGiving Back Association, Siam Donationor any other similar sites set-up to promote Thai Charities.Gift of Happiness Foundation has discovered that some information on such sites is inaccurate or out-dated.Please only refer to the accurate, truthful and regularly updated information in this site. Thank you.

Gift of Happiness Foundation chooses not to be listedon websites, like Giving Back Association, Siam Donation or any sites with similar domain names like www.happiness.organd any websites set-up to promote Thai Charities. Gift of Happiness Foundation has discovered that some information on such sites is inaccurate, out-dated or simply not helpful to the people we serve at Gift of Happiness Foundation.Please only refer to the accurate, truthful and regularly updated information in this website; http://www.gohappiness.org/. Thank you.

Gift of Happiness Foundation is very proud to announce that we’re now official supporters of the ChildSafe Movement run by Friends International whose work helps to protect children around the world.